Submit!
Submissions are open from September 15 – December 15.
Thank you for your patience and continued support!
General Guidelines
We accept poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, translations, art/photography, comics, hybrid pieces, and/or any otherwise uncategorized creative works. Our submission period runs from September 15 to December 15 every year. You can expect to hear back by the end of April.
Long River Review accepts simultaneous submissions. Please let us know if your work is accepted elsewhere.
If your work is accepted, we ask for First North American Serial Rights (i.e., to be the first publication in North America to publish it), after which the rights revert back to you.
All contributors get two copies of the issue where their work is featured. Unfortunately, we are not in the position to offer payment to our writers.
While we are open to a plethora of innovative and exciting works, Long River Review will NOT publish stories that/are:
- Condone bigotry: sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, or hateful ideologies
- Center around graphic depictions of sex or violence
- AI generated
- Excerpted from a novel or larger body of work (unless the piece can stand alone by itself)
- Political manifestos
If your work fits into any of these categories, it will be automatically disqualified for review or publication.
Please check genre-specific guidelines before submitting.
We only accept unpublished work.
AI Statement
Long River Review is committed to promoting the value of human writing and art. To support that effort, Long River Review will not publish any submission of writing or art that features sections or entirely AI generated text or visual content. Because we standardize grammar during the copyediting process, the use of AI tools for grammar check is also prohibited.
If a piece is suspected to be AI-generated, our editors will take the following steps:
- The submission will be reviewed by our board of editors in greater depth
- The submission will be run through GPTZero or an equivalent AI detection software
- The submitter will be contacted about whether they used AI assistance in their work
In the event the submission is found to be partially or completely AI-generated:
- If the submitter is honest about their use of AI, the piece will be declined but the submitter is welcome to submit again for the next issue
- If the submitter does not admit to using AI assistance or does not answer, they will be permanently banned from submitting to Long River Review
Long River Review may ask for original copies of artwork/previous draft of written work during this process. After the above steps are taken, any decision made by our editors is final and cannot be contested.
Fiction Submissions
Submissions include original, unpublished narratives created from the imagination, encompassing short stories, novellas, dramas, or novel excerpts that can stand alone. Flash fiction pieces should each be submitted individually.
Submission Limit: 4,000 Words or 5 Flash Fiction pieces
Poetry Submissions
Submissions include original, unpublished poems. We especially welcome poems that experiment with language and structure in unique ways. We ask that every poem is submitted individually: one poem per submission. If your poem is a part of a larger sequence, we ask you to choose your best stand-alone pieces.
Submission Limit: 5 Poems
Creative Nonfiction Submissions
Submissions include original, unpublished works that explore real-life experiences, events, or ideas. Examples include memoir excerpts, personal essays, and literary journalism. No academic papers.
Literary Criticism: Long River Review is now seeking literary criticism that responds to a recent text or one that recontextualizes older literature in modern literary discourse. We value criticism that uses close reading to explore how a text functions within wider communities, whether academic, political, or cultural.
Submission Limit: 4,000 Words
Translations Submissions
Submissions include original, unpublished translations of literary works from any language into English. Please include the text in the original language with the submission, as well as the source of the original non-English piece.
Submission Limit: 5 poems or 1 prose piece under 4,000 words
Art/Photography Submissions
Long River Review welcomes all art mediums including: photography, illustration, printmaking, paintings, comics, drawings, and mixed media works.
Submission Limit: 5-10 Pieces
All art submitted by UConn students to LRR will be considered for generous cash prizes provided by the Gloriana Gill Art Awards and the Long River Art Award.
Submit artwork based on the following specifications:
- Tiff or .EPS file in 5.75 inches (minimum width) x 8 inches (maximum width), in 350 dpi, CMYK mode.
- Full-color art or images should be scanned at 350 dpi in CMYK mode and saved as TIFF files.
- Black and white art should be in greyscale (this means there is no color but the gradations of black and white are complex).
Please include a 150 word artist statement explaining the artwork.
Mixed Media Submissions
Long River Review accepts submissions that blend multiple artistic forms or mediums, such as text, visual art, photography, and other creative expressions. All approaches are welcome, as long as they challenge traditional boundaries. Pieces like video essays, video poems, and mixed media graphic novels can be included in the digital version of the issue.
Submission Limit for Text Submissions: 6,000 Words
Email us at lrr@uconn.edu with questions
